Sirdar Kapur Singh offers a compelling analysis and narration of the martyrdom of a tenth-century Persian mystic Mansur Al-Hallaj
Sindh Courier
The Khalsa Chronicle and Sarbloh Studio Publishing has announced the new republication of ‘Mansur Al-Hallaj’ authored by Sirdar Kapur Singh (1909-1986).
Authored by Sirdar Kapur Singh, known as the ‘National Professor of Sikhism’, the book was originally published in 1970. The composition serves as a monograph and comparative religious tract.
Sirdar Kapur Singh offers a compelling analysis and narration of the martyrdom of a tenth-century Persian mystic, Mansur Al-Hallaj (858-922). Utilizing hagiographical accounts interwoven with theological concepts that approach the universal, Kapur Singh beautifully engages with the subject. Impressively, Mansur’s martyrdom is referenced within the Sikh canon. Texts such as the Sri Nanak Prakash, Pracheen Panth Prakash, and more vividly recount the grave injustice meted to the exalted figure.
Sarbloh Studio Publishing has updated the formatting, cover art, and included a short translation of the Sri Nanak Prakash (1824) by Mahakavi Bhai Santokh Singh.
Mahavira Singh, who has written the foreword of the book, says, “It is certainly fruitful to critically engage with Sirdar Kapur Singh’s ideas as we forge our path ahead through the vicissitudes of time’s churning wheel.”
He writes that Sirdar Kapur Singh’s prolific oeuvre has, over the years, served as an invigorating gateway for modern man into Sikh thought. “One struggles to think of a better polemicist than the ‘Professor of Sikhism’ among the many men of letters that populate the august halls of the twentieth century’s Sikh history – or, for that matter, a worthier crusader for its world-historical stature in the march of history.”
“Our particular vantage as globally dispersed Sikhs, conversant with modernity, afforded with an ease of access and interaction online that previous generations could scarcely dream of, allows us to reckon anew with this doyen of Sikh literary and political thought,” he writes.
He further writes, “The figure and polemics of Kapur Singh looms conspicuously in the backdrop of the turbulent circumstances that occupied the Sikh Panth in post-independence India, from the Punjabi Suba Morcha, all the way to Operation Blue Star. These events continue to shape and orient the Sikhs’ worldview today; it is certainly fruitful to critically engage with Sirdar Kapur Singh’s ideas as we forge our path ahead through the vicissitudes of time’s churning wheel…”
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